


1800s hornets

by orphan_account



Category: Marble Hornets
Genre: AU, Angst, Based in the 1800s, Brian Thomas - Freeform, Fluff, Forced shock therapy, Heavy Transphobia, Hurt/Comfort, Jay is trans, M/M, Mental Asylums, Or when continued, Possibly eventual Brialex if I figure out how to add Alex into this, Timothy "Tim" Wright - Freeform, Will add more if continued, eventual jam, jay merrick - Freeform, shock therapy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:27:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27177859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Marble hornets AU based in a fantasy/horror set up in the late 1800sTim and Brian save a trans man from a mental asylum.
Relationships: Jay Merrick/Timothy "Tim" Wright | Masky
Comments: 3
Kudos: 9





	1. Author's note - trigger warnings and such

Alright, hi! Let's get this done >:D

Basically, this is a fanfiction that I wrote on my laptop and thought about posting here. I want to try and make it a multi-chapter story, but I'm not sure if I have skills/motivation for it or if anyone will like it. So, I'm posting the first chapter to kind of see what people think about it :)

This is an AU and even though I will try my best to keep it historically accurate, I'm more interested in writing a story that I like than have every point match with reality. For example:

The story is based in the late 1800s and starts with a shock therapy scene. Shock therapy however didn't exist back then, it was invented in the 1930s

Anyways, moving to the trigger warnings:

This story will include heavy transphobia and - if continued and built into a multi chapter story - homophobia, as well as mental illnesses and self-hate, possible self harm etc. If these kinds of things make you feel uncomfortable, please either don't read or read with caution

Again, this first chapter is just a tryout, so don't feel afraid to tell me what you think!


	2. Chapter one - Shock therapy

Tim hadn’t planned on being dragged into a presentation of some sort. All he had done had let Brian know that he was bored and didn’t have anything to do. Immediately, Brian’s eyes had lit up and Tim had known he was in danger.

And indeed, there he was. Brian had dragged him to some kind of a mental hospital for some kind of a presentation about a new way of dealing with… something. He didn’t know, Brian didn’t seem to know either. But he did seem very concerned about it.

As they stood in the big white presentation hall, Tim couldn’t help but feel nervous. He had had his fair share of hospitals as a kid and they always made him uncomfortable. Something about this place gave him a _really_ weird feeling, though. It was like something was really wrong, like the place itself was wrong. He couldn’t quite explain it any other way.

“Tim. Focus.”

Tim glanced at Brian, who had nudged his shoulder a bit. “What?” Tim asked quietly. Brian shushed him and nodded slightly towards the stage of the presentation hall, where the doctor keeping the presentation had been talking about the development of medical science and God and everything else that would make anyone fall asleep. Especially someone like Tim, who wasn’t interested in the slightest.

Now though, there was something happening. The doctor had stopped talking and was now instructing his assistants on setting something up on the stage. It looked like a normal surgery bed, but with big, thick brown belts. They looked like they were meant to restrain someone. Next to it, the assistants placed somekind of a machine with a lever. Tim couldn’t tell what it was, but it looked like a generator he had seen around the richer part of the town where electric lights were slowly becoming more popular.

“What in the world is that?” Brian muttered quietly. Tim glanced at the taller man and gave him a small shrug. That was all he could do, he didn’t have the slighest clue on what it was for. All he knew was that it looked like it would cause pain.

“And now… we shall demonstrate with a patient”, the doctor announced loudly, “Our volunteer has suffered for years of several mental issues. We’ve finally found a way to stimulate her brain and change the way it thinks to help people like her.”

“Volunteer my ass…”, Brian muttered, “they probably forced the poor thing into this.”

“We don’t know that”, Tim said quietly. “That’s what these people do, Tim”, Brian huffed, “they don’t actually help anyone. They just collect funding money to get nice things.”

Tim opened his mouth but before he could start speaking, a woman dressed in white – Tim assumed she was a nurse – walked into the room. She was half dragging a young woman dressed in a simple grey dress with her. Tim could tell that she had been purposefully dressed up nice, to hide how badly she was actually being treated. He could tell it by the blank, nervous look in the woman’s eyes, from the few bruises that were left visible, from her bony figure.

“Jaylyn Merrick, our first volunteer trying out this new treatment, has started to believe that she is supposed to have a man’s body”, the doctor spoke, “During her stay here she has consistently insisted on being called a man. She has _demanded_ to be able to use men’s clothing and restrooms.”

The doctor went on and on, but Tim didn’t bother listening. He had to admit, this wasn’t what he had been expecting, but he didn’t exactly see what was wrong with it. Sure, it sounded weird and… not something he’d hear many times during his life, but surely there was more serious things to deal with?

Other people there didn’t seem to share his way of thinking. He could hear whispering and muttering around him, people talking about how wrong and disgusting it was, how “the poor girl had clearly been possessed” or otherwise affected by Lucifer. Ridiculous.

Tim focused his attention to the young woman on the stage. Even from the faraway side of the room he could see how she was shaking, how her eyes were wide open in fear. She was clearly terrified of whatever was going to happen and Tim couldn’t help but wonder if they had tested their new “treatment” on her before.

Next to him, Brian was clenching his fists, brows burrowed like he was thinking. “What?” Tim asked quietly. Brian glanced at him and then looked at the stage again. “These people are crazy”, he huffed through gritted teeth, “I heard my father speaking about this treatment. The first person they tried it on _died._ ”

“… What?” Tim asked. Brian gestured slightly towards the machine. “Something in that… thing killed him”, he whispered. Tim looked at the machine and frowned. Were they going to witness a death? A murder disguised as a medical treatment?

“Come on, Jaylyn”, the doctor said, gesturing the young woman to sit down on the bed. When she hesitated, the nurse practically dragged her to the bed and lied her down. Tim watched as one of the assistants restrained her down. The doctor whispered something into her ear before putting – rather forcing – a gag that seemed to have been made out of wood into her mouth. Tim watched as she squirmed around on the bed for a moment before giving up. He could still see her shaking.

“And now… behold”, the doctor said, “with a little bit of new science, we will erase these thoughts that the Devil has placed into her mind. After only two shocks, she will admit her sins and beg God for forgiveness.”

“Shocks…?” Tim muttered. “No way”, Brian huffed next to him. The two of them watched as the doctor walked to the machine and started pressing some kind of buttons on it. Tim couldn’t help but jump a bit when the machine flashed white lightning-like electricity to the air before starting to make some kind of a sound. It sounded kind of like purring, but not quite. It made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Now _this_ thing was not normal.

The doctor grabbed some kind of sticks attached to the machine and as he raised them, Tim could see the ends of them flashing from electricity. The woman restrained on the bed, Jaylyn, seemed to notice too, because she started squirming again. Tim could hear the nurse telling her to stay still, but he was more focused on the sticks. He watched as the doctor pressed the sticks against the sides of Jaylyn’s head, causing her to scream in pain. Tim couldn’t help but look away to avoid her pain.

The moment didn’t last for long, only a few seconds. Jaylyn’s scream muffled into whimpering and then she fell completely silent. Tim dared to look at her again, to see her shaking in her restraints, eyes tightly closed. The doctor muttered something to her before shocking her again, causing her to scream again. Tim felt like vomiting, to him the “treatment” was horrifying and disgusting. He couldn’t even imagine how much it would hurt or what kind of damage it could do.

After the second shock was over, Tim could see that Jaylyn was crying. Her hands were twitching and her face was pale, like she was about to pass out. The nurse and the assistants freed her swiftly from her restraints and the doctor pulled her on her feet. He said something, but Tim didn’t listen. He didn’t want to hear the explanations for what had happened, he knew those would be lies. There wasn’t anything “holy” or “great” about it, it was literal torture. Jaylyn looked like she was about to pass out and collapse on the ground.

“This is sickening”, Tim muttered quietly. “I know”, Brian huffed, “but we can’t do anything. Not yet.”

“Not yet?” Tim asked, frowning a bit. Brian only shook his head and grabbed his coat. “We’re done here”, he said, “come on. We got things to do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, what'd ya think? Should I continue this?
> 
> Also, if there's anything else Marble hornets related you'd want me to write, lemme know! I'm always open for new ideas :) You can leave me suggestions or writing prompts either in the comment section or dm me on instagram (my user name is kris_enby_waffle)


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